Exploring
Christian Worship
Part Four: Going Forth to Love and
Serve the Lord
[This lesson begins with a brief experience of pre-Constantinian
worship.]
Introduction
... and to those who are absent a
portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and
willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited
with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who,
through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in
bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care
of all who are in need.
(Justin, First Apology 67)
When it is done right, Christian worship results in mission.
Luke 24:33-35: The Emmaus disciples immediately responded to their
encounter with Christ by running back to Jerusalem to tell others.
Justin noted various immediate responses to worship:
- Pastoral care--the deacons brought Communion to those who were
absent (most likely the sick, the elderly, and those who were
imprisoned).
- Need-meeting ministries--the offering was used to help those with
physical needs of a financial nature, especially widows and orphans.
- Prison ministries--an important concern in times of persecution!
- Ministries of hospitality to strangers--we might think of
refugee-relocation projects and the like, but also the support of
traveling preachers and teachers, and more general forms of hospitality
to "strangers sojourning among us."
All the ministries of the church can and should be empowered and
motivated by our worship!
Development
The concluding words in the Latin liturgy are Ite, missa es, "Go, it is the
dismissal." The word missa is
a form of missio, which we
see in our English word "mission." It is significant that the word for
"dismissal" eventually became the name for the entire service (missa = Mass). The congregational
response is Deo gratias,
"Thanks be to God."
The challenge for Christians today is to reclaim a sense that the
purpose of worship is to send believers back into the world. Often the
assumption is just the opposite--that we have fulfilled our Christian
obligation simply by showing up to worship!
How do we make our worship the source and grounding for our Christian
lives? Catholics and Orthodox like to speak of the church as a
"Eucharistic community," a family of faith empowered by and centered
around the Eucharist. This sentiment has roots in the earliest
centuries, when the church lived out its community life preeminently at
the weekly communal meal where Jesus was remembered, the needs of the
body were met, and the gifts of the Spirit were in evidence.
Rhythms of Christian Worship
(1) Daily rhythm: daily quiet time.
(2) Weekly rhythm: Sunday worship.
(3) Yearly rhythm:
- the Liturgical year, through which we rehearse the deep truths of
the gospel from season to season:
Advent
Christmas
Epiphany
Lent
Holy Week
Easter
Pentecost
- Monthly prayer retreats, special observances
Worship is supposed to change us, empower usto go forth, prepared to
serve God in all of life.
Implications
- Membership in a community
- Spiritual gifts
- Christian worldview/mindset
- Service, mission, testimony